Getting to know you: Obama, Xi start relationshipWASHINGTON (AP) — The man destined to be China’s next leader won an extraordinary welcome across Washington on Tuesday, a finely scripted opening to one of the world’s most important relationships. Trading kind words of cooperation, President Barack Obama and Xi Jinping also spoke directly about human rights and worsening foreign crises. Everything about the day reflected just how much China and the United States need each other, no matter wha...

US, Europe look at fast but risky penalty on IranAP Photo Eds: Corrects in 6th paragraph that U.S. can punish SWIFT’s board of directors, not individual board members. With BC-Israel-Attacks. Multimedia: Interactive, /2011/iran. AP Video. With AP Photos. By JULIE PACE and ANNE GEARAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Europe are considering unprecedented punishment against Iran that could immediately cripple the country’s financial lifeline. But it’s an extreme option i...

Divided opposition is key to Syrian regime’s powerBEIRUT (AP) — At a rented house just outside Syria’s border, a dissident known only as “The Doctor” maps out attacks. Planners speak by Skype with fighters on the ground in Syria, while others raise money, drumming up cash from fellow exiles to buy weapons. The safe house offers a glimpse into the Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors and others who are trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad by force. The FSA has emerged as a signifi...

Israel blames Iran for series of Bangkok blastsBANGKOK (AP) — Israel accused Iran of waging a covert campaign of state terror that stretched this week from the Middle East to the heart of Asia after a bungled series of explosions led to the capture of two Iranians in Bangkok. Authorities in Israel ratcheted up security at home and abroad following Tuesday’s explosions in the Thai capital, escalating a confrontation over Iran’s suspect nuclear program and raising fears of war. On Monday, an...

Activists: Syrian rebels repel attack on key townBEIRUT (AP) — Syrian rebels repelled a push Monday by government tanks into a central town held by forces fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime in an 11-month conflict that looks increasingly like a civil war. The military pressed its offensive on Rastan a day after the regime rejected Arab League calls for the U.N. to create a peacekeeping force in Syria and for an end to the violent crackdown on dissent. Damascus called the League initiat...

Bombers target Israeli diplomats in India, GeorgiaNEW DELHI (AP) — Israel blamed Iran on Monday for bomb attacks on its diplomats’ cars in India and Georgia, heightening concerns that the Jewish state was moving closer to striking its archenemy. Iran denied responsibility for the attacks that appeared to mirror the recent killings of Iranian nuclear scientists that Tehran blamed on Israel. The blast in New Delhi set a car ablaze and injured four people, including an Israeli Embassy driver and...

Syrian army general assassinated in DamascusBEIRUT (AP) — Gunmen assassinated an army general in Damascus Saturday in the first killing of a high ranking military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime began in March, the country’s state-run news agency said. The attack could be a sign that armed members of the opposition, who have carried out attacks on the military elsewhere in the country, are trying to step up action in the tightly c...

Syria says suicide bombers kill 28 in AleppoALEPPO, Syria (AP) — Two suicide car bombers struck security compounds in Aleppo on Friday, killing 28 people, Syrian officials said, bringing significant violence for the first time to an industrial center that has largely stood by President Bashar Assad during the 11-month uprising against his rule. Anti-Assad activists denied any involvement and accused the regime of setting off the blasts to smear the opposition as government forces pummel...

Humanitarian crisis deepens in Syrian city of HomsBEIRUT (AP) — Between blasts of rockets and mortar fire, Syrians used loudspeakers to call for blood donations and medical supplies Thursday in the stricken city of Homs, where a weeklong government offensive has created a deepening humanitarian crisis. Government forces are trying to crush pockets of violent resistance in Homs, the epicenter of an 11-month-old uprising that has brought the country ever closer to civil war. The intense shellin...

Mexican army finds 15 tons of pure methamphetamineGUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican troops have made a historic seizure of 15 tons of pure methamphetamine in the western state of Jalisco, an amount equivalent to half of all meth seizures worldwide in 2009. The sheer scale of the bust announced late Wednesday in the western state of Jalisco drew expressions of amazement from meth experts. The haul could have supplied 13 million doses worth over $4 billion on U.S. streets. “This could potentia...

Pakistan: Second US drone strike in 2 days; 3 deadPESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A U.S. drone fired two missiles at a house in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region, killing three suspected militants in the second such attack in as many days, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The back-to-back strikes could be an indication the drone program is picking up steam again after a slowdown caused by tensions with Pakistan over accidental American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year. ...

EU threatens new sanctions on SyriaBEIRUT (AP) — The European Union will impose harsher sanctions on Syria, a senior EU official has said, as Russia tried to broker talks between the vice president and the opposition to calm violence. Activists reported at least 50 killed in the regime’s siege of the restive city of Homs. Russia, a close ally of Syria, and the West are pushing down starkly different paths in trying to deal with Syria’s nearly 11 months of bloodshed. After block...

Officials: US missiles kill 8 people in PakistanPESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — U.S. drone-fired missiles hit a house in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region near the Afghan border Wednesday, killing eight people, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The attack occurred in Spalga village in the North Waziristan tribal area, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The identities of those killed were unknown, but the area is domi...

Russia pushes Syria reforms as bloodshed mountsBEIRUT (AP) — Days after blocking a U.S.-backed peace plan at the U.N., senior Russian officials pushed for reforms Tuesday during an emergency meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, promoting a settlement to end the uprising without removing him from power. Thousands of flag-waving government supporters cheered the Russians in the Syrian capital of Damascus, while to the north, Assad’s forces pounded the opposition city of Homs — undersc...

Russia, China veto UN resolution on SyriaUNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council failed again Saturday to take decisive action to stop the escalating violence in Syria as Russia and China vetoed a resolution backing an Arab League plan that calls for President Bashar Assad to step down. The double-veto outraged the U.S. and European council members who feared it would embolden the Assad regime. In an unusual weekend session, 13 members of the council, including the United Sta...

Heavy snow traps many people in BosniaSARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia’s government declared a state of emergency in its capital on Saturday after Sarajevo was paralyzed by snow, while in Rome residents dug out from the city’s biggest snowfall in 26 years, which shut down the Colosseum. The weeklong cold snap — the worst in decades in Eastern Europe — has killed at least 176 people, many of them homeless, especially in countries such as Ukraine. In Rome, unusually heavy ...

Kidnappers free 2 Americans, Egyptian guideEL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Bedouin tribesmen abducted two female American tourists and their Egyptian guide at gunpoint Friday but released them several hours later after negotiations with tribal leaders in the Sinai Peninsula, the region’s security chief said. The brazen daylight abduction along a busy highway was a new blow to Egypt’s vital tourism industry, which has been heavily battered by the unrest following last year’s uprising that ousted...

Iranian leader warns US, Israel against strikesTEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader pledged Friday to aid any nation or group that challenges Israel and said any military strikes over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program would damage U.S. interests in the Middle East “10 times over.” The nationally broadcast comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei staked out a hard line in apparent replies to suggestions that military strikes are an increasing possibility if sanctions fail to rein in the...

Syrian activists: 200 dead in government assaultBEIRUT (AP) — In a barrage of mortar shells, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds in Homs in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said Saturday. The assault in Homs, which has been one of the main flashpoints of opposition during the uprising, comes as the U.N. Security Council prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for President Bashar Assad t...

Egypt soccer fans rush field after game, 74 deadCAIRO (AP) — At least 74 people were killed and hundreds injured after soccer fans rushed the field in the seaside city of Port Said Wednesday following an upset victory by the home team over Egypt’s top club, setting off clashes and a stampede as riot police largely failed to intervene. It was a bloody reminder of the deteriorating security in the Arab world’s most populous country as instability continues nearly a year after former President...